Description:

Summary of Position:
Communities Rise is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation that provides, among other things, pro bono legal services to low-income small businesses and nonprofits in Washington State. As one of the only Washington civil legal aid organizations that advises business entities rather than individuals, we are in a unique position to help low-income individuals build lasting economic power for their communities. Our legal team is seeking a business attorney with experience advising businesses and/or nonprofits on transactional legal matters. The ideal candidate is passionate about helping underprivileged entrepreneurs and nonprofit leaders achieve their goals while protecting their organizations during these turbulent times. Candidates who demonstrate experience working or volunteering in the nonprofit sector are also preferred.

Communities Rise routinely advises limited liability companies, nonprofit corporations, sole proprietorships, and unincorporated associations on the following legal topics: entity formation and governance (operating agreement drafting, corporate governance, 501(c)(3) compliance, other tax law issues, industry-specific compliance), contract drafting and review (sales contracts, fiscal sponsorship agreements, partnership/investor deals, waivers, licenses, etc.), intellectual property issues (copyright and trademark registration and licensing), employment law (independent contractor vs. employee classification, employer compliance, civil rights laws, and best practices for hiring, onboarding, and termination), real estate transactions (commercial lease review, purchase and sale), and more. Candidates are certainly not expected to be well-versed in all these practice areas, nor will candidates be asked to advise clients on each of these legal topics. However, candidates who demonstrate a breadth of interests and expertise may be better suited for this role.

A majority of this position's time will be spent carrying out our charitable legal programs by (1) assisting with our client intake and attorney-placement processes and (2) providing high-quality legal advice to clients. Thanks to our extensive network of volunteer attorneys, Communities Rise can serve a high volume of pro bono clients while maintaining staff attorney caseloads at a reasonable size, allowing our attorneys to build genuine relationships with each client. This means that the attorney in this position will only directly advise a small subset of the total number of matters that pass through our intake system each month. Therefore, ideal candidates might demonstrate deeper proficiency in just one or more of the practice areas discussed in the previous paragraph, while also demonstrating just enough familiarity across a breadth of other practice areas such that the attorney can more adeptly spot issues and unravel hidden complexities within otherwise simple-looking client inquiries. Because our client intake and attorney-placement processes would require this position to work closely with non-attorney employees in the legal team, candidates would benefit from demonstrating prior productive working relationships with non-attorney teammates as well as experience managing volunteers.

A substantial portion of this position's time also includes occasionally preparing and delivering “legal trainings.” These are public educational presentations, sometimes virtual, sometimes in-person, and sometimes with 100+ registrants. These legal trainings typically focus on a specific legal topic, to educate our clients, the broader community, and volunteer attorneys (we sometimes offer CLE credits for attorney attendees). Strong candidates may demonstrate an aptitude or interest in teaching, public speaking, and other similar skills. Many of our legal training projects also involve drafting or revising written publications, toolkits, or legal templates, which we make publicly available on our website.

As a member of our small but mighty Legal Team, this position may necessarily require additional duties, including meeting with key funders who help make our charitable work possible, collaborating with partner organizations, assisting with client outreach efforts, assisting with metrics gathering and data entry, participating in organization-wide strategic planning and retreats, assisting in efforts to recruit volunteers, and so on. Communities Rise approaches its work through a shared leadership model that reduces silos and provides all staff an opportunity to actively participate in organizational planning, program development, and more.

Position Responsibilities:

Providing Legal Services to Small Businesses and Nonprofits

Provide legal advice to eligible small businesses and/or nonprofit organizations in a variety of transactional legal practice areas (see Section I above for a complete list of practice areas).
Provide legal advice to clients during our free online legal clinic, typically held once a month on a Wednesday from 4:45 pm to 7:15 pm.
Collaborate with our Paralegal on client intake, engage in issue-spotting, and approve client applications for legal services.
Collaborate with our Volunteer Engagement Manager to place matters with volunteer attorneys.

Legal Trainings: Educational Presentations for the Public

Collaborate with the Legal Team and our volunteer attorneys to design, plan, rehearse, and deliver multiple legal trainings per year. Such trainings may take the form of webinars, workshops, conference sessions, or educational presentations.
Collaborate with the Legal Team and our volunteer attorneys to develop and revise our written publications, document templates, and toolkits.

Program Development: Help the Legal Team grow its charitable legal services

Assist with data tracking and reporting requirements.
Build and maintain relationships with key funders and partners related to our legal services.
Build and maintain relationships with volunteer attorneys and assist with outreach efforts to recruit additional volunteers.
Assist with outreach efforts to attract more clients.

Miscellaneous:

Help provide legal counsel to Communities Rise on a variety of legal issues, including contract review, attorney ethics, intellectual property, and compliance.
Actively contribute to program development and strategic planning processes.
Assist with communications, fundraising, and administrative work as needed.
Other responsibilities as assigned.

Qualifications:
Minimum Qualifications:

At least 2 years of experience advising clients with respect to transactional legal matters (see sample list of practice areas in Section I above).
Licensed to practice in Washington State as an attorney.

Preferred Qualifications:

Experience advising small businesses or nonprofits.
Proficiency or comfort with the software that we use: Google Docs, Zoom, Microsoft Office, Salesforce.